27,026 research outputs found
A Bayesian method for pulsar template generation
Extracting Times of Arrival from pulsar radio signals depends on the
knowledge of the pulsars pulse profile and how this template is generated. We
examine pulsar template generation with Bayesian methods. We will contrast the
classical generation mechanism of averaging intensity profiles with a new
approach based on Bayesian inference. We introduce the Bayesian measurement
model imposed and derive the algorithm to reconstruct a "statistical template"
out of noisy data. The properties of these "statistical templates" are analysed
with simulated and real measurement data from PSR B1133+16. We explain how to
put this new form of template to use in analysing secondary parameters of
interest and give various examples: We implement a nonlinear filter for
determining ToAs of pulsars. Applying this method to data from PSR J1713+0747
we derive ToAs self consistently, meaning all epochs were timed and we used the
same epochs for template generation. While the average template contains
fluctuations and noise as unavoidable artifacts, we find that the "statistical
template" derived by Bayesian inference quantifies fluctuations and remaining
uncertainty. This is why the algorithm suggested turns out to reconstruct
templates of statistical significance from ten to fifty single pulses. A moving
data window of fifty pulses, taking out one single pulse at the beginning and
adding one at the end of the window unravels the characteristics of the methods
to be compared. It shows that the change induced in the classical
reconstruction is dominated by random fluctuations for the average template,
while statistically significant changes drive the dynamics of the proposed
method's reconstruction. The analysis of phase shifts with simulated data
reveals that the proposed nonlinear algorithm is able to reconstruct correct
phase information along with an acceptable estimation of the remaining
uncertainty.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, submitted to MNRA
Crustal deformation, the earthquake cycle, and models of viscoelastic flow in the asthenosphere
The crustal deformation patterns associated with the earthquake cycle can depend strongly on the rheological properties of subcrustal material. Substantial deviations from the simple patterns for a uniformly elastic earth are expected when viscoelastic flow of subcrustal material is considered. The detailed description of the deformation pattern and in particular the surface displacements, displacement rates, strains, and strain rates depend on the structure and geometry of the material near the seismogenic zone. The origin of some of these differences are resolved by analyzing several different linear viscoelastic models with a common finite element computational technique. The models involve strike-slip faulting and include a thin channel asthenosphere model, a model with a varying thickness lithosphere, and a model with a viscoelastic inclusion below the brittle slip plane. The calculations reveal that the surface deformation pattern is most sensitive to the rheology of the material that lies below the slip plane in a volume whose extent is a few times the fault depth. If this material is viscoelastic, the surface deformation pattern resembles that of an elastic layer lying over a viscoelastic half-space. When the thickness or breath of the viscoelastic material is less than a few times the fault depth, then the surface deformation pattern is altered and geodetic measurements are potentially useful for studying the details of subsurface geometry and structure. Distinguishing among the various models is best accomplished by making geodetic measurements not only near the fault but out to distances equal to several times the fault depth. This is where the model differences are greatest; these differences will be most readily detected shortly after an earthquake when viscoelastic effects are most pronounced
Spatially Dependent Parameter Estimation and Nonlinear Data Assimilation by Autosynchronization of a System of Partial Differential Equations
Given multiple images that describe chaotic reaction-diffusion dynamics,
parameters of a PDE model are estimated using autosynchronization, where
parameters are controlled by synchronization of the model to the observed data.
A two-component system of predator-prey reaction-diffusion PDEs is used with
spatially dependent parameters to benchmark the methods described. Applications
to modelling the ecological habitat of marine plankton blooms by nonlinear data
assimilation through remote sensing is discussed
Jamming under tension in polymer crazes
Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study a unique expanded jammed
state. Tension transforms many glassy polymers from a dense glass to a network
of fibrils and voids called a craze. Entanglements between polymers and
interchain friction jam the system after a fixed increase in volume. As in
dense jammed systems, the distribution of forces is exponential, but they are
tensile rather than compressive. The broad distribution of forces has important
implications for fibril breakdown and the ultimate strength of crazes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Spark Model for Pulsar Radiation Modulation Patterns
A non-stationary polar gap model first proposed by Ruderman & Sutherland
(1975) is modified and applied to spark-associated pulsar emission at radio
wave-lengths. It is argued that under physical and geometrical conditions
prevailing above pulsar polar cap, highly non-stationary spark discharges do
not occur at random positions. Instead, sparks should tend to operate in well
determined preferred regions. At any instant the polar cap is populated as
densely as possible with a number of two-dimensional sparks with a
characteristic dimension as well as a typical distance between adjacent sparks
being about the polar gap height. Our model differs, however, markedly from its
original 'hollow cone' version. The key feature is the quasi-central spark
driven by pair production process and anchored to the local pole of a
sunspot-like surface magnetic field. This fixed spark prevents the motion of
other sparks towards the pole, restricting it to slow circumferential drift
across the planes of field lines converging at the local pole. We argue that
the polar spark constitutes the core pulsar emission, and that the annular
rings of drifting sparks contribute to conal components of the pulsar beam. We
found that the number of nested cones in the beam of typical pulsar should not
excced three; a number also found by Mitra & Deshpande (1999) using a
completely different analysis.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Ap
On measuring alpha in B(t)-> rho^\pm pi^\mp
Defining a most economical parametrization of time-dependent B-> rho^\pm
pi^\mp decays, including a measurable phase alpha_{eff} which equals the weak
phase alpha in the limit of vanishing penguin amplitudes, we propose two ways
for determining alpha in this processes. We explain the limitation of one
method, assuming only that two relevant tree amplitudes factorize and that
their relative strong phase, delta_t, is negligible. The other method, based on
broken flavor SU(3), permits a determination of alpha in B^0-> rho^\pm pi^\mp
in an overconstrained system using also rate measurements of B^{0,+}-> K^* pi
and B^{0,+}->rho K. Current data are shown to restrict two ratios of penguin
and tree amplitudes, r_\pm, to a narrow range around 0.2, and to imply an upper
bound |alpha_{eff} - alpha| < 15 degrees. Assuming that delta_t is much smaller
than 90 degrees, we find alpha =(93\pm 16) degrees and (102 \pm 20) degrees
using BABAR and BELLE results for B(t)-> rho^\pm pi^mp. Avoiding this
assumption for completeness, we demonstrate the reduction of discrete
ambiguities in alpha with increased statistics, and show that SU(3) breaking
effects are effectively second order in r_\pm.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, data and references updated, to be published in
Phys. Rev.
Low-Frequency Spectral Turn-Overs in Millisecond Pulsars Studied from Imaging Observations
Measurements of pulsar flux densities are of great importance for
understanding the pulsar emission mechanism and for predictions of pulsar
survey yields and the pulsar population at large. Typically these flux
densities are determined from phase-averaged "pulse profiles", but this method
has limited applicability at low frequencies because the observed pulses can
easily be spread out by interstellar effects like scattering or dispersion,
leading to a non-pulsed continuum component that is necessarily ignored in this
type of analysis. In particular for the class of the millisecond pulsars (MSPs)
at frequencies below 200MHz, such interstellar effects can seriously compromise
de- tectability and measured flux densities. In this paper we investigate MSP
spectra based on a complementary approach, namely through investigation of
archival con- tinuum imaging data. Even though these images lose sensitivity to
pulsars since the on-pulse emission is averaged with off-pulse noise, they are
insensitive to effects from scattering and provide a reliable way to determine
the flux density and spectral indices of MSPs based on both pulsed and unpulsed
components. Using the 74MHz VLSSr as well as the 325MHz WENSS and 1.4GHz NVSS
catalogues, we investigate the imaging flux densities of MSPs and evaluate the
likelihood of spectral turn-overs in this population. We determine three new
MSP spectral indices and identify six new MSPs with likely spectral turn-overs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
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